Artwork

[b]Who Made These Videotapes? by Laurie Van Wieren [/b]An investigation of 30 years of dance in Minnesota. “When talking about their lives, people lie sometimes, forget a lot, exaggerate, become confused, and get things wrong. Yet they are revealing truths. These truths don’t reveal the past ‘as it actually was,’ aspiring to a standard of objectivity. They give us instead the truths of our experiences” (Devault). [b][i]5 Dancers and a DJ[/i][/b] Performers: [b]Judith Howard, Tom Carlson, April Sellers, Megan Mayer, Susan Scalf and Chris Holman.[/b] First seen as part of Red Eye Isolated Acts Performance Process 2006. Laurie Van Wieren is Artist INREZ at Studio 206 and a 2008 Southern Theater McKnight Artist Fellow.[size= 11pt][b] [/b][/size]During her spring residency, Van Wieren will continue her retrospective through a series of open rehearsals, performances and discussions. Find out more at: [b]ivystudio206.com[/b] and [b]laurievanwieren.com[/b] [b] [/b][size= 12pt]Founded in 2007 by Robert Rosen and Shawn McConneloug, [b]Studio 206[/b] is a creative workspace committed to supporting artists in exploring new ground in performance and art. Not a theatre or a school but a platform...a place to ask questions and take risks. [b]INREZ[/b] is a residency project designed for artists who show exceptional rigor and commitment to their art-making and craft. [/size] Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000149 EndHTML:0000010457 StartFragment:0000000199 EndFragment:0000010423 StartSelection:0000000199 EndSelection:0000010423 [b]Biographies: [/b][b] [size= x-small]April Sellers[/size][/b][size= x-small] [/size]received her formal training in dance at The Ohio State University. Choreographing in Minneapolis for nearly a decade, her works have been produced all over the Twin Cities, including formal theaters such as The Walker Arts Center, Bryant Lake Bowl, Heart of the Beast and also less expected sites: roof tops, sculpture gardens, garages and living rooms. In 2005 she was awarded an Artist Initiative Grant from the MN State Arts Board. Sellers’ collaborations have included poets, vocalist, film artist, chefs and visual artists. Her collaboration with choreographer Judith Howard earned them a Sage Dance Award in 2006 for Outstanding Performance. Her next choreographic project is will premier at the Southern Theater January 6-8 2011. [b]Megan Mayer,[/b] a choreographer, performer and photographer, is thrilled to join the vibrant cast of 5 Dancers and a DJ. She also performed in each and every version of Ms. Van Wieren’s [i]like a movie I saw once (2008)[/i]. Ms. Mayer is a recipient of a 2010 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers, administered by The Southern Theater and funded by The McKnight Foundation. She spent part of October in New York City working with artist Douglas Dunn, funded by a 2010 Jerome Foundation Travel/Study Grant. Current projects include [i]Blue Argus[/i] (with Kevin Obsatz) and [i]Belt Beeper Scanner[/i] (with Ben McGinley), both premiering in the Minneapolis Dance Film Project on December 17 & 18, and works by Charles Campbell (May 2011) and Chris Yon (July 2011). [b] Tom Carlson[/b] danced for 6 hours straight in 7th grade at a party. He moved on in his dance career to work with Laurie Van Wieren and the B-Specifics (since 1983), Georgia Stephens, Contactworks, Frank Kinikin. Between 1980 and 1992, Tom hung out and danced with all of these dance people and managed to work as a special education teacher full-time. Being yanked from retirement, Tom reports that this piece is a blast to work on and is extremely happy that he can still move it around. There are still 3 people in his fan club: Chris, Fawn (president) and Kim. In his other artistic pursuit, Tom has played trumpet with the Brass Messengers, an eastern European/New Orleans/Twin Cities brass band since 1999. [b]Judith Howard[/b] is a choreographer and performer whose work has been widely presented in the Twin Cities and beyond. She was selected “Twin Cities Best Choreographer” in 2005 by City Pages and received a Sage Award for “Outstanding Performance” (with April Sellers) in 2006 as well as three nominations for “Outstanding Dance educator”. Judith is the Director of the Dance Program at Carleton College and has worked with Laurie Van Wieren since 1990. She is elated to be dancing in Laurie’s retrospective and considers Laurie one of her most outstanding mentors, friends, colleagues and artistic influences. [b]Susan Scalf [/b]moved to Minneapolis in 1992 because of the Minnesota Dance Alliance, the Anarchist Youth Federation and Husker Du. She thought she would just be dallying here for a brief moment and then relocating either South (Austin) or West (San Francisco), but the lively artistic community seduced…and embraced her, so she planted roots. In the past 2 decades she has had the opportunity to work with many inspired choreographers and companies as dancer, collaborator and rehearsal director. She has toured nationally and internationally and has picked up some awards along the way, including a McKnight Dancer Fellowship and City Pages Critics' Choice. She feels privileged and grateful to be part of such a vital and loving community and now, without a doubt, considers the City of Lakes to be her home. [b]Chris Holman[/b] has had a short, happy career as a performer. He was in the original cast of "5 Dancers and a DJ" in 2006. Things are different now. Last year, his critically acclaimed solo performance as Bunny Walker to a sold-out Walker Art Center was a focal point of debate and consternation. This is his final performance.

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[/size] [size= medium][b]Laurie Van Wieren[/b][/size][b] is an independent choreographer, based in Minneapolis. She has been creating dance and performance since 1980. She grew up on the west side of Chicago, and attended the Art Institute of Chicago. There she studied performance art and film history. She moved to Minneapolis in 1975 and started her career in dance, studying with Nancy Hauser, a choreographer and teacher who had been in the dance company of Hanya Holm. From 1975-1985, Laurie took many workshops with the likes of David Gordon, Dana Reitz, Ruth Zadora, Deborah Hay and Eiko and Koma. She formed her own company in 1985. As a solo performer, and with her company, the B-Specifics, she has performed in many venues, including: the Southern Theater, Dancespace, DTW, Links Hall, the Walker Art Center, Lake of the Isles skating rink and the Fabrik in Potsdam, Germany. Laurie performed in the Art of Movement Festival, in Yaroslavl, Russia Aug 2006. She is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight, Jerome, Bush and Rockefeller Foundations. Active in the Minneapolis/St Paul arts community for the past 20+ years, Van Wieren has collaborated with many video, theater, and music artists. She produces a monthly dance/discussion called 9x22 Dance/Lab and is the Dance Curator at the Southern Theater. [size= x-small]Per Olson[/size][/b] is a local Minnesotan lighting designer, technician, and technical director. Though he grew up in the cities, his professional career started abroad on a production for the MOMA in New York. Per then went on to assist Michael Philippi for his lighting design of The Pillowman at USC. He has designed lighting and worked at several houses in the Twin Cities such as, The Open Eye Figure Theater, Penumbra, Heart of the Beast and the Southern Theater. He is a founding staff member of Sample Night Live and a member of the Advisory Board. He currently works as the Assistant Technical Director and Master Electrician at The Southern Theater. Per holds a BA in Theater and History from Hamline University. [size= x-small][b]Elliott Durko Lynch [/b]is a performance-maker, theater technician at the Bryant Lake Bowl, and sound and media artist. A 2005 Graduate of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, he makes his own performances / Public Service Announcements, most recently performed in Megan Mayer’s' "we tried to throw the light,' sang a song in Morgan Thorson's 2009/2010 work 'Heaven’ and delighted in co-creations with choreographer Justin Jones. However most of his work has been electronic music and sound designs for a diverse range of live performance including; Skewed Visions’ “Strange Love,” "He Woke Up...” and “Jasper Johns: Grey,” Chris Schlicting’s "love/things", Interact Theater Company, and many independent artists. Elliott is a 3-time Sage Award [i]nominee[/i], is co-curator of the almost quarterly fArt Fest, and is a real person. [url=[email protected]][email protected][/url][/size] <[url=mailto:[email protected]]mailto:elliottdurkolynch@gmail.com[/url]> [b] [/b][b] Project Staff [/b][size= 12pt]Elliott Durko Lynch:[/size] Production Manager, General Assistant [u]Per Olson:[/u] Lighting Design [u]Theresa Madaus:[/u] Stage Manager, Box Office [u]Kevin Obsatz:[/u] Video Documentation [u]Sara Shaylie:[/u] Press [b] THANK YOU: [/b]Eleanor Savage, Intermedia Arts/Jake Davis, Jennifer Arave, Kevin Obsatz, Voodoo Media, Jenna Johnson, Sara Shaylie, Non Edwards, Christopher Holman, Shawn McConneloug, Bob Rosen, Toddy, Ken, Billie, Kenny, Nancy, Abby, Andrew and Rachel Van Wieren, Studio 206, McKnight Foundation, Southern Theater, Bryant Lake Bowl, Kristin Van Loon, Mary Ellen Childs, Eleanor, Charles Campbell, KVL, Art Hounds, Michelle Kinney, Kate Nordstrom, Sage Cowles, Audrey Glassman. [b]Advisory board:[/b] Kristin Van Loon, Charles Campbell, Lisa Griffin Vincent, Christopher Holman. [b]Past B-Specifics[/b]: Georgia Stephens, Kristine Miller-Helm, Barb Sobocinski, Elisa Randall, EE Balcos, Connie Braden, Kathryn Palmer, Chris Reeves, Cate Vermeland, Alan Lindblad, Lovis Weller, Exploding Head Trick, Tom Kantak, Diane Aldis, Pablo, the woman of “Book Club”, Sherri Flagg McHugh, Neal, Gus and the Hockey Players. [size= 12pt] [/size]